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What Is GIS? 5
Bibliography 31
Acknowledgments 33
i
Science and Our Changing Climate
The Medieval Warm Period (tenth to fourteenth centuries). The Little Ice Age (sixteenth to
nineteenth centuries). The Year without a Summer (1816).
Impacts of Sea Level Rise: Southern Florida was examined to exhibit the effects of
sea level rise on human and animal populations. View the case study.
Earth's climate has undergone radical changes in the distant as well as the recent past
and is almost certain to undergo more radical changes in the not-too-distant future. As
industrialization, population, and urbanization continue to increase, so too will stressors
on the environment such as pollution. Such change in climate and environmental quality
could have huge implications for quality of life. Regardless of where you stand on the often
politically charged issue of global warming, or global climate change, we owe it to ourselves
and our children to take an intelligent look at the data and develop actionable, intelligent
alternatives.
The Age of We live in an age of readily and freely available information. The Internet has given us
Information unprecedented awareness of and access to vast quantities of climate data. Never before
have scientists and nonscientists had such easy and open access to the data and tools
This map represents the first step in mapping the delivery, distribution, and economic value of
ecosystem services in the Sierra Nevada of California. View the case study.
Climate Change Models Published: The National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR)
is publishing climate change model output data in a GIS format. View the case study.
The geographic approach provides the necessary framework for GIS analysis.
Step 2: Ask > Acquire > Examine > Analyze > Act
After clearly defining the problem, it is necessary to determine the data needed to
complete your analysis and ascertain where that data can be found or generated. The
type of data and the geographic scope of your project will help direct your methods of
collecting data and conducting the analysis. If the method of analysis requires detailed
and/or high-level information, it may be necessary to create or calculate the new
data. Creating new data may simply mean calculating new values in the data table or
obtaining new map layers or attributes but may also require geoprocessing. Sometimes
you might have to consider using surrogate measures, which allow data creation
through indirect means. For example, an economic indicator can be used as a surrogate
for income. However, because of the limits in collecting accurate data in this way, it is
necessary to indicate in your results the manner in which the data was collected.
Step 4: Ask > Acquire > Examine > Analyze > Act
The data is processed and analyzed based on the method of examination or analysis
you choose, which is dependent on the results you hope to achieve. Understanding the
effects of parameters you have established for the analysis, as well as the algorithms
being implemented, is critical so that you can correctly interpret the results. Do not
underestimate the power of "eyeballing" the data. Looking at the results can help
you decide whether the information is valid or useful or whether you should rerun the
analysis using different parameters or even a different method. GIS modeling tools
make it relatively easy to make these changes and create new output.
The availability of data was identified as a critical issue for the application of geospatial
technologies. "All things on the earth are related to each other," said Hoang Minh Hien,
deputy director, Disaster Management Center, Vietnam. "To understand or prevent or
fight climate change, we cannot skip the steps of building a general database to explore
and apply GIS integration abilities, which are essential."
The use of geospatial technologies in climate change science is not limited to GIS;
remote sensing was also identified as a foundational technology by several participants.
"Tying remote-sensing technologies and data to GIS is a powerful combination of
understanding spatial patterns in the earth's ever-changing surface," said Peter
McIntosh, manager of Technical Marketing and Outreach, ITT Visual Information
A Carbon-Neutral, Zero-Waste City: Every facet of designing and building the city
will be analyzed with GIS, and an enterprise system will be used throughout
the city's life cycle. View the case study.
As discussed previously, the availability of data presents a critical opportunity. "It has
been my experience over the last three decades of conducting spatial analyses on large
and small landscapes that the necessary GIS tools to support the requisite planning
and analyses already exist," said Dr. Don Reimer, president, D.R. Systems Inc. "What
is lacking is natural resource information with sufficient spatial and attribute detail to
enable the appropriate precision level to be achieved in the planning process. It seems
to me that if we really want to be able to utilize forests and natural resources to help
combat climate change, the first priority is to find a way to secure sufficient long-term
funding for the collection and maintenance of better site-specific data. Then we could
really make use of all the superb GIS tools and information."
One of the most compelling opportunities is in teaching future scientists, policy makers,
and citizens about the geographic approach to solving the problem of climate change.
"I am working with the next generation, 18-year-old students, who really will have
to deal with the impacts of our present lifestyle," said Mikael Krekula, teacher, GIS/
environment, Hjalmar Lundbohms School, Sweden. "Climate change is one of these
coming problems. Our students are working in a local scale to understand the global
trends. They are monitoring and measuring permafrost at a research station, measuring
ice thickness in a melting glacier, and measuring changes in water quality in several
lakes around the area to see changes in the environment. Our students . . . understand
the local and global scale of environmental impact. GIS is an excellent tool to help learn,
understand, and make wise decisions."
GIS technology has proved to be invaluable in driving intelligent decision making, and
its application to climate science is a natural fit. In fact, extensive work has already been
Wind Farm Siting: AWS Truewind's first national map for mean annual
wind speed at 80 meters aboveground is the basis for identifying potential
land area for wind development. View the case study.
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About the Authors
Jack Dangermond founded Esri with a vision that
computer-based mapping and analysis could make
significant contributions in the areas of geographic
planning and environmental science. The recipient of
10 honorary doctorate degrees, he has served on advisory
committees for the National Aeronautics and Space
Administration, the Environmental Protection Agency,
the National Academy of Sciences, and the National
Science Foundation.